Fraser saves Bournemouth and sends Swansea into danger zone
To extend one of Carlos Carvalhal’s famous analogies, Swansea City have not only been ordered back to their hospital bed but have been handed a worrying set of test results to go with it.
This latest defeat, against a Bournemouth side who knew a win would guarantee their own top-flight future, leaves them with just one week and two games to discharge themselves from a relegation battle which grows increasingly harrowing with each ineffectual performance.
Seven Premier League matches have now passed since Swansea last won. They have lost their verve at the worst possible time and have found the net just twice in that run.
Carvalhal, who finished this game with his chin on his chest and his hands on his hips, has some fine players at his disposal – many of them performed well enough in stages here – but they were undermined again by an inability to finish their chances, to hit the pressure points on a Bournemouth side who have no shortage of vulnerabilities.
Swansea could have wrestled control of this dogfight with a positive result, but instead their grip on safety was loosened as Ryan Fraser’s goal provided Bournemouth with just their second victory in 11 matches.
Eddie Howe’s side can relax at last, while Swansea can expect a few sleepless nights ahead of this week’s vital meeting with Southampton.
“It will be a game that will decide a lot of things,” Carvalhal said. “It’s a home game, our fans will have a big impact, and my players play better when we are at home. I believe that we will stay in the Premier League.”
Unsurprisingly, given the stakes, this was a match played at a desperate, wide-eyed pace, between two teams high on fear and low on confidence. Both sides were too panicked to pass with any composure and too nervy to defend with any authority.
It was so frantic, and these defences so uneasy, that chances were inevitable. Callum Wilson nearly skipped through in the first minute, while Asmir Begovic made two fine saves from close range after his defenders had botched a Swansea corner.
Barely 20 minutes had passed, but the opportunities kept coming. Martin Olsson skied a diving header, prompting Carvalhal to kick the floor in anger.
The afternoon turned when Wilson was fouled on the edge of the Swansea box, and the resulting free-kick was touched into the path of Fraser, whose shot burst through the bodies and into the Swansea net.
Slowly, but effectively, Bournemouth shut the game down as Swansea failed to respond to the pleas of “Attack, attack, attack” from the visiting supporters. In the end, a second goal was more likely to be scored by the home side, who were only denied when Lukasz Fabianski produced a remarkable close-range stop from Wilson in the final minutes.
Bournemouth are now guaranteed another year of Premier League football, but Howe warned that improving in this league is getting harder.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as an established Premier League team, bar the top six or seven clubs,” he said. “Everyone else, if you have a bad season, you can end up down there.”
It was a truth that Swansea know all too well.
Bournemouth (3-4-3) Begovic 8; Francis 6, S Cook 7, Ake 6; Fraser 8, L Cook 7, Surman 6, Daniels 6; J King 7 (Mousset 90), Wilson 7 (Mings 90), Pugh 6 (Gosling 78). Subs Boruc (g), Smith, Defoe, Ibe. Booked J King. Swansea (3-4-3) Fabianski 7; Van der Hoorn 6 (A King 72), Fernandez 5, Mawson 6; Roberts 6, Ki 5 (Narsingh 78), Carroll 6, Olsson 5; Dyer 5 (Abraham 59), A Ayew 6, J Ayew 6. Subs Nordfeldt (g), Clucas, Rangel, Sanches. Booked Olsson, Van der Hoorn, Mawson, A King. Referee Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).